Career and Technical Education (BS) - Family and Consumer Sciences Education

About

Career and Technical Education (CTE) is an area of public education that focuses on providing students with opportunities in high skill, high demand and high wage areas. Appalachian State University prepares individuals to teach students about these areas at the middle and high school level, at the postsecondary level, in industry and through cooperative extension agencies. Appalachian is the only institution in the state that prepares CTE teachers, and is widely recognized as providing top-quality teachers for the public schools.

Just as young people need to be taught how to read, write or calculate, they also need education in business, marketing and financial literacy, family and consumer sciences literacy and technological literacy.

We offer five certification tracks:

Business, Finance and Information Technology Education
Business, Marketing and Entrepreneurship Education
Family and Consumer Sciences
Technology, Engineering and Design Education
Trade and Industrial Education

In Career and Technical Education (CTE) - Family and Consumer Sciences Education, students address all areas of family and consumer sciences including family living and parenting, child development, apparel and textiles, housing and interior design, foods and nutrition, and consumer education. Students wishing to gain additional competence in a particular area can minor in child development, nutrition or apparel. Since many of our students become teachers, students learn to incorporate innovative instructional strategies, manage labs and implement career and technical student organizations.

Transfer students or students who have completed Community College courses related to a specific skill area should contact the program director to determine if these courses can count toward a program of study at Appalachian.

After Graduation

Employment: Career opportunities are abundant for Family and Consumer Sciences Education majors. Students are typically hired throughout North Carolina as well as in surrounding states such as South Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee. Family and Consumer Sciences educators are able to teach a variety of courses in grades 6-12 ranging from Foods and Parenting & Child Development to Interior Design and Apparel & Textile Production. A list of all courses that graduates can teach in North Carolina is located on the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s website.

Graduate School: Other Complementary graduate programs include:

Professional Licensure

This is a program that can lead to licensure or certification in North Carolina. Appalachian State University cannot confirm whether this program will meet the requirements for professional licensure in other states or territories.

If this applies to you, check the Professional Licensure webpage for information on licensure requirements and licensing agencies in other states. Or, you may address questions to State Authorization at App State at stateauthorization@appstate.edu or 828-262-7559.

People

Student Profile: Kennedy Forbes
“The CTE program at Appalachian is phenomenal! CTE gives students multiple opportunities for field experience, and all of the classes that students are required to take are meaningful.”

– Kennedy Forbes, family and consumer sciences major
Alumna Profile: Sarah Tucker ’17
Having received her family and consumer sciences degree at Appalachian, Sarah Tucker now pursues her passion as a teacher, making a difference in her students’ lives every day.
Faculty Profile: Dr. Cheryl Lee

“I enjoy working with teacher candidates who will be teaching these critical life skills to high school students. All of the coursework is so relevant — what I teach in my college courses, as well as what the future educators will teach to their high school students.”
– Dr. Cheryl Lee, CTE professor
Alumni Profile: App State leads nation in board certified teachers

For the sixth consecutive year, App State tops the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards’ list of “Top 50 Alma Maters by Total Number of NBCTs,” leading the nation for the number of National Board Certified Teachers — 2,211.

Courses

Program of Study
Four Year Guide

Click on the pdf for your major
NCCC Transfer Four Year Guide

Related Programs

Minors

View all minors

Engagement Outside the Classroom

North Carolina Association for Career and Technical Education (NCACTE)

Appalachian Educators - open to all education majors; sponsors service events and provides professional development and leadership opportunities.

Student North Carolina Association of Educators - a pre-professional organization for college students interested in a career in education.

Chi Sigma Iota - the international honor society for students, professional counselors and counselor educators.

Kappa Delta Pi - the national honorary education fraternity.

Orchesis - the expressive arts honor society, which sponsors activities throughout the year.

Student Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (SAFCS)

Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) - students are actively involved at the local and state level.

View all student organization contacts

Global Learning

Appalachian is committed to introducing students to different cultures and teaching them how to live and interact in a global society. Opportunities for education majors include international student teaching.

Admission Requirements

Admission to Appalachian’s Teacher Education Program is required.

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Degrees

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Costs and Aid

Why Appalachian?

Graduates are hired quickly and often have multiple job offers.
Appalachian is the only institution of higher education in North Carolina to offer a degree in Career and Technical Education.
This program has a long-standing commitment to excellence in CTE teacher preparation and is well-respected at the local, state, national and international levels.
Faculty and students are actively in involved professional and student organizations related to Career and Technical Education.
This is a small, personal program in which teacher candidates take courses and participate in field experiences together for four semesters. All students are known well by each other and by the CTE faculty.

Location

Boone and Hickory* and online

*The Hickory Campus location is pending accreditation from SACSCOC for this program. Accreditation is expected in summer 2023.

Careers

Middle and high school teachers
Community college instructors
Adult educators in community agencies
Private school teacher
Educator in business or industry
Career center instructors

Contacts

Reich College of Education

Department of Curriculum and Instruction

Dr. Jerianne Taylor
Program Director
taylorjs@appstate.edu

Department of Curriculum and Instruction
The Department of Curriculum and Instruction offers a broad range of comprehensive degree programs at the baccalaureate and master’s level. The department seeks to provide quality programs that emphasize an integration of academics and field experiences.

Reich College of Education
Approximately 2,400 students
- The Reich College of Education enrolls approximately 2,400 students in its bachelor’s, master’s, education specialist and doctoral degree programs. It houses five departments: Curriculum and Instruction, Family and Child Studies, Human Development and Psychological Counseling, Leadership and Educational Studies, and Reading Education and Special Education.
Teacher preparation
- Appalachian has been training quality educators for more than 100 years and is accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).
- Appalachian offers the largest undergraduate teacher preparation program in North Carolina, graduating about 500 teachers a year. There is at least one RCOE graduate working in every county in North Carolina.
- The Reich College of Education is recognized consistently in the annual Institution of Higher Education Performance Report by the State Board of Education.
Close ties to public schools
- The Appalachian State University Public School Partnership – which includes 125 schools in nine surrounding districts – provides sites for student teachers and interns as well as professional development opportunities for teachers.
- The Appalachian State University Academy at Middle Fork, located in Walkertown, North Carolina, serves over 300 K-5 students. The Academy provides a balanced education through the implementation of research-based practices, state-of-the-art literacy instruction, and exemplary classroom instruction and administration.
Graduate programs
- The School of Graduate Studies’ Accelerated Admission program, in which select undergraduate students can fulfill both undergraduate and graduate course requirements in their senior year toward the completion of a graduate degree program, is offered in: higher education, reading education and special education.
- Other education-related master’s degrees, graduate certificates and specialist degrees are listed on Appalachian’s School of Graduate Studies website.